Who are you? Who am I?
by paradox102creator
Summary: Knuckles feels the urge to go treasure hunting
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I dont own any of the characters.

Story- Who are you? Who am I?

He knew it wasn't often he left the Master Emerald unguarded but in the few times he did it either because Sonic had suckered him into another adventure or when he decides to go do his absolutely favorite hobby. Treasure hunting.

Given his uncanny ability to locate any rare treasure he now sported a massive collection of rare and ancient items that he was always looked forward to adding too.

So when Angel Island was drifting above another island and he felt the familiar pull in his gut wake him from his nap he immediately took the opportunity and slowed his island to a stop.

Vibrant red dreadlocks surrounding a pair of lavender shaded eyes peered over the edge of the peculiar floating landmass at the non-flying island he had stopped over.

Noting the tall volcano on the island he nodded. If he put Angel Island at the right altitude he could simply jump from the top of it and glide to the bottom of his island and climb the rest of the way up.

Jumping off the edge Knuckles the echidna flared his dreadlocks began the glide down to his awaiting treasure. His targeted landing zone was a small clearing in the middle of the forest that felt relatively close to his goal.

Landing amongst several low grown young trees he took a cautious look around the clearing to watch for any unwanted attention he might receive. Being on the surface never failed to make him a bit edgy, and the longer he spent down here the longer the master emerald was in danger made him slightly impatient as well.

Knuckles never spent much time on the surface.

A brief glance around the clearing brought a brief glimpse of something not natural. Moving closer he pulled off a bunch of small shrubs and vines revealing a rusted pile of metal. It took Knuckles a full ten minutes to realize that he was looking at a armed walker mech. Though it couldn't really be called as such anymore given its current state of destruction. The cockpit was completely exploded, likely the pilot with it, and rest of it was covered in rust and overgrown flora.

Knuckles had no doubt that this had been abandoned for years. Though he was nonetheless curious of how or why it was here. But even Knuckles knew that he wasn't going to get answers by standing here staring at the pile of junk.

Moving deeper into the jungle he eventually stumbled into a pile of rubble. Literally. After tripping over several pieces he examined them more closely and realized it was camouflage coloring on what he recognized as the outside wall pieces. Clearly recognizable despite the destruction and disuse the building had suffered.

"Odd," He commented to himself. Why would someone go to such lengths to hide a already well hidden building. Obviously they had wanted to remain hidden. Perhaps from whoever had almost obliterated the building.

"Could the mech have something to do with this?" Pondered Knuckles.

In either case whatever had happened here was long over and Knuckles had no doubt that at least a few treasures had been left behind. Despite this he was still a little cautious to start digging into the rubble in case any traps may have survived the carnage.

Whenever someone tries this hard to remain hidden it must mean they have something hide.

And so his determination to recover and collect more possibly priceless artifacts drove him on and to his own surprise he found a still sealed hidden metal hatch under what remained of one of the toppled reinforced walls.


	2. Chapter 2

Grinning at his luck he didn't bother with trying to figure out how to open it and simply dug both his hands into one end of the door and with a grunt he pulled, the hatch creaked but didn't budge.

Staring dumbfounded at the door Knuckles could only wonder at what kind of locks or reinforcements must on that thing for it to be stronger than him.

Knuckles flinched at that thought and immediately dug his hands back into the edge of the hatch and pulled. Grunting Knuckles pulled with every ounce of his strength and for a moment it almost didn't seem like enough but within seconds the air was filled with the screeching of metal and a final pull the hatch came flying out. Literally. The excess force from Knuckles threw hatch flying well over the tree tops and out of Knuckles' sight.

Blinking in slight surprise at how light the hatch was once it came loose. Looking down the tunnel he couldn't help but notice that the lights were on. Grimacing he dropped through the hole and inside the underground complex.

Knuckles landed in a combat ready position, however the lack of any ambushes or traps or really anything in the surprisingly well lit hallway made this action moot.

Relaxing slightly Knuckles observed the few features of the hallway. Standing next to the ladder leading to the exit he noticed the walls, floor and ceiling were all made of some type of metal and covered in a thorough coating of dust leading all the way to a sealed metal sliding door at the end.

Walking over to the dust covered door he was slightly surprised when the door opened opened upon his approach. Entering the small room he couldn't help but notice the massive bank of computer screens dominating the far wall. The wall on his left had a reinforced multi-lock door on the far end and the wall on his right had a simple wooden normal door. Which was rather odd given the place it was in. Knuckles almost went over and opened it but a flashing red light on the computer terminal distracted him and he went over to examine it more closely.

Upon closer inspection he realized it was a camera incessantly blinking at him. Reaching over he pressed the button and the blinking stopped but to his surprise the screen flashed to life and showed a old man with grayed hair and a face withered with time speaking wildly.

"I... I... I wanted you to know I'm sorry. I meant... I didn't mean for... I want you to know; whoever finds this that what I created project Miles for is no longer what I want him to be."

*line break*

He took a deep shuddering breath and calmed himself a little bit. "This will be my final log, so for formalities sake. I am Robert Robotnik, son of Gerald Robotnik and father of Maria Robotnik. And, unless my sister and her husband escaped the extermination, the final heir of the Robotnik line."

*line break*

Knuckles felt his jaw drop. Another Robotnik still alive, Knuckles had figured that Eggman had had family but hadn't thought that any were still alive after the whole ark incident. But there it is. Eggman's apparent uncle right there on the screen in front of him. Knuckles snapped out of his mental shock when he realized that the video was still playing.

*line break*

"-over forty years since the last time I made one of these I can barely remember what has happened since my last entry. Barely. Since my last log where I told you about how my father had won the race between us of who could cure my daughter first and she could finally come home..." He sighed sadly, "of course GUN saw his cure only as a weapon and sought to take it. They boarded his orbital laboratory and butchered everyone there and then had the gall to call it an "accident"." The sarcasm and anger was evident in his voice. "The bastards then branded the Robotnik line traitors and executed every one of us they could lay their hands on. I escaped and hid in my hidden lab. It was probably better that my wife died before all this happened, she died happy that way.

"After that I sealed myself in my lab and watched as GUN covered the whole thing up. After that I became consumed by my want for revenge and I spent the last forty years trying to recreate my fathers design. A single creature that's capable of obliterating any army that challenges it. Capable of dealing out revenge for what was done. It took me forty years for my work to pay off. Forty years trying to avenge my family."

"Project Miles was started. I used the little information I had on my fathers project and did what I could to duplicate the rest, while I had to use a different template than my fathers for the base design the result was largely the same. A single being with the ability to harness impossible amounts of chaos energy. Project Miles could possibly be even more capable than my fathers original design, the infusion of chaos energy caused developments beyond even my own imagination. Like when he was in development I had first introduced the chaos energy he developed an odd growth. I was perplexed as too what it was at first but I later realized it was a second tail, a fox with two tails! Even I-"

*line break*

After that all the words seemed to blur together for Knuckles as he wavered on his feet his mind lost in sudden shock.

Miles. A second tail. A fox. Sudden denial gripped the echidna momentarily.

"Theres no way the kid that always accompanies Sonic on his adventures is... Its too much of a coincidence for it to be true." But even the hardheaded echidna couldn't deny the facts sitting right in front of him. The only known fox to have a second tail was Tails and through one of his few civilized conversations with Sonic the hedgehog had accidentally revealed the young cubs real name, though he hated it, Miles.

Knuckles realized he he was sitting on the dusty floor and regained his standing position briefly wondering exactly when he fallen backwards and refocused on what the video was playing.

*line break*


	3. Chapter 3

"-was then that I decided that I couldn't do that to him. He was so young, completely new to the world. Completely oblivious of the goals I had in mind for him. I intended for him to wipe out GUN like they had wiped out my family. It's not that I had a change of heart, I still wish for GUN to be pay for what they have done. But I can't make Miles do it. His eyes are exactly like I remember my Maria's being, young, inquisitive, intelligent and incredibly innocent. I couldn't make him become my tool of vengeance. So I made sure he wouldn't have any potential memories of any of this and put him on the surface of the island to make his own life, the locals here are a very accepting and friendly group he'll be fine.

"So that leaves me here, an old man, tired of hiding and plotting, with all of my legacies either dead or can't know, with a name that is branded with death and hate. With nowhere to go and no goal to strive towards."

Knuckles watched in near horror as the old man picked up an object from slightly off screen and pulled it into view; revealing a small pistol. He looked at the the camera with a slightly guilty look, opened his mouth to say something but thought otherwise closed it and stood, he turned around and with the pistol dangling from his hand he walked over to the wooden door opened it and closed it behind him with a sense of finality.

Knuckles winced as the sound of a single gunshot blasted through the speakers and then fell silent. The only sound came from the hum of fans built into the complex, a sound Knuckles had failed to notice until now. Stumbling over to the wall trying to keep his guts from hurtling themselves out his mouth; he stuck his hand out to brace himself against it.

The wall gave under his touch and the red echidna recoiled pulling his hand back and falling backwards. Instead of the wall or ceiling collapsing onto his head a small section of the wall neatly slid out above him.

Making sure he still wasn't going to hurl he stood and looked into the box and saw what had drawn him here in the first place, the one of a kind item he was looking for.

Two fake Chaos emeralds, though the one that looked like it had been blue tinted looked drained and was cracked down the middle but the yellow one still glowed with power hidden inside. Reaching inside he was extremely careful in picking them up as he didn't know exactly how stable they were.

Knuckles recalled that these likely weren't the first ones created as Eggheads grandfather had also created one and later Tails, though these might be the last ones as Dr. Gerald Robotnik was dead and Tails had said he wasn't going to bother creating another fake.

However as he lifted them from their casings the power went out. The echidna cursed as he realized the emeralds must have been the source of the base' power supply.

Using the dim light given off the fake emeralds he navigated himself over to the exit door and used his spikes on his hands to pry the sliding door open. Slipping through the narrow opening he had created he turned and sealed the door one again. Securing that the fake emeralds were secure in his dreadlocks he climbed the ladder out into the open.

Breathing in the fresh air he looked around the surrounding forest. This time though it seemed much sadder. As though it knew the tragedies that had occurred beneath it.

Looking around at the rubble Knuckles found a suitable piece of rubble and dragged it overtop of the hole. Ensuring no one would find this for a very long time.

Some secrets were better off hidden.

After the return trip to his island the trek across it to his hidden hoard in well disguised cave and dug out a groove in the wall. Placing the two artificial emeralds in the groove he carefully placed dirt around them; slowly sealing them in and arranging the dirt until the wall was again seamless.

Stepping back out onto the surface of his island he breathed out a sigh of relief he hadn't known he was holding.

"And others wonder why I'm so secretive," he commented to himself as he returned to unending vigil over the Master Emerald.


End file.
